Cross-cultural Psychological Studies Research Articles

Exploring diachronic salience of emotion metaphors

Abstract This paper analyzes metaphorical conceptualizations of happiness in the historical corpus of Classical Malay and in the corpus of present-day Indonesian, the national variety of Malay used in Indonesia. The aim is to explore the idea of diachronic salience and universal/variation in metaphorical conceptualizations between diachronic varieties of the same language. Token and type frequencies are used as measures of salience of the metaphors. Seven of the top-10 metaphors in Classical Malay with high token and type frequencies also make into the top-10 metaphors ranked by these measures in Indonesian, suggesting a relatively stable diachronic salience of the metaphoric cognitive models of happiness in these two Malay varieties. The shared metaphors are parts of larger networks of semantic domains, namely possession, location, motion, containment, and quantity. The metaphors are discussed in relation to themes reported in earlier cross-cultural psychological studies of the cultural folk models of happiness.

Panic-Buying Behaviour During the Covid-19 Outbreak: A Cross-Cultural Psychological Study


 
 
 The Covid-19 outbreak has had a major impact across the globe. Tourism, education, health, and economies are all affected by this pandemic. One major impact on the economic sector is the emergence of ‘panic-buying’. This study examines panic-buying in cross-cultural psychological studies. The researchers conducted a literature review on previous studies related to panic-buying behaviours during both the Covid-19 outbreak and similar scenarios prior to Covid-19. The researchers provide an explanation on how panic-buying behaviour can occur. The researchers also compare panic-buying with similar behaviours such as impulsive and compulsive buying.
 Keywords: Panic buying, Pandemic, Covid-19, Cross-cultural psychological studies
 
 

Representing and coordinating ethnobiological knowledge

Indigenous peoples possess enormously rich and articulated knowledge of the natural world. A major goal of research in anthropology and ethnobiology as well as ecology, conservation biology, and development studies is to find ways of integrating this knowledge with that produced by academic and other institutionalized scientific communities. Here I present a challenge to this integration project. I argue, by reference to ethnographic and cross-cultural psychological studies, that the models of the world developed within specialized academic disciplines do not map onto anything existing within traditional beliefs and practices for coping with nature. Traditional ecological knowledge is distributed across a heterogeneous array of overlapping practices within Indigenous cultures, including spiritual and ritual practices that invoke categories, properties, and causal-explanatory models that do not in general converge with those of the academic sciences. In light of this divergence I argue that we should abandon the integration project, and conclude by sketching a notion of knowledge coordination as a possible successor framework.

A comparative framework for culturally differentiated digital game-based learning

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore culture as the unit of analysis in comparative education in the context of technology-mediated learning known as digital game-based learning (DGBL). Design/methodology/approach – Two digital games for Chinese language learning were purposefully designed and produced following existing studies in cross-cultural psychology, learning theories and second language acquisition. To corroborate the assumption that culture affects user’s preference of DGBL learning interface, the two newly developed instructional tools were evaluated with eastern and western learners to find out their perceptions and choices through direct observation, pre-/post-assessments and a group interview. Findings – The evaluation indicates the validity of the key assumptions in the theoretical framework: eastern learners were fond of the type of digital game that involves social cues and situational factors, whereas, western learners preferred a simple design and goal-oriented learning game in which they had the power of control. Originality/value – This paper suggests a theoretical and technical framework to design, and produce culturally sensitive DGBL learning tools. Extant studies on the relationship between culture and DGBL are usually on how digital games generate unique learning experiences and culture. Looking at the same phenomenon but in a reverse direction, this study reports on how learners’ culture determines their preferences in DGBL.

The Impact of Gender Roles on Health

The present research focused on a sample of Spanish undergraduate women and men to evaluate whether gender was related to substance use and chronic illness. This research examined the associations of conformity to masculine norms for men and conformity to feminine norms for women with substance use in chronic illnesses. Spanish male (n = 226) and female (n = 234) college undergraduates completed measures of chronic diseases, alcohol and tobacco consumption, and conformity to gender norms. Multivariable regression analyses demonstrated that being female was related to lower alcohol and cigarette consumption but a greater rate of chronic illnesses. Although masculinity did not explain the rate of chronic illnesses, specific feminine and masculine gender norms were related to alcohol and tobacco use and prevalence of chronic diseases. The present study provides insights for further cross-cultural psychological studies on the mediating effect of self-reported conformity to gender norms (rather than only sex) on health. Limitations and implications are discussed.

Types of Comparative Studies in Cross-Cultural Psychology

From a methodological perspective cross-cultural studies in psychology differ in three dimensions. First, cross-cultural psychological studies can be exploratory or test specific hypotheses. Second, some cross-cultural studies compare countries or ethnic groups while other cross-cultural studies relate specific characteristics of a country or ethnicity (e.g., socialization patterns or religiosity) to psychological variables. Third, studies can compare either constructs (e.g., do Chinese and Kenyans mean the same when they say that a person is intelligent?) or score levels (e.g., are Americans more extravert than Italians?). A classification of cross-cultural psychological studies, based on the three dimensions, is presented and examples are given.

Jeepneys: Values in the Streets

Cross-cultural psychological studies mostly focus on differences between countries. This study uniquely focuses on intracultural variations of values based on descriptors of artifact data, jeepneys (public transportation vehicles), and on interviews with jeepney drivers. The sample consisted of 200 jeepneys and their drivers in Manila and Davao, northern and southern regions of the Philippines, respectively. Results indicated that Manila jeepneys featured more decorations and accessories concerned with religion, identity, and Western commercialism, while Davao jeepneys featured more political and civic themes. In interviews about their problems and wishes, Manila drivers expressed more financial and road-related problems and wishes that centered on family and happiness, whereas Davao drivers expressed more family and other people-related problems and wishes dealing with finances and work. Results are discussed focusing on inter-and intracultural variation.

Subjective Quantitative Studies of Human Agency

Amartya Sen’s writings have articulated the importance of human agency, and identified the need for information on agency freedom to inform our evaluation of social arrangements. Many approaches to poverty reduction stress the need for empowerment. This paper reviews subjective quantitative measures of human agency at the individual level. It introduces large-scale cross-cultural psychological studies of self-direction, of autonomy, of self-efficacy, and of self-determination. Such studies and approaches have largely developed along an independent academic path from economic development and poverty reduction literature, yet may be quite significant in crafting appropriate indicators of individual empowerment or human agency. The purpose of this paper is to note avenues of collaborative enquiry that might be fruitful to develop.

Annotated bibliography of materials for adding an international dimension to undergraduate courses in developmental and social psychology.

For centuries cross-cultural comparisons have contributed to attempts to understand human behavior (Herodotus being an often-quoted early example). Specialized journals for publishing cross-cultural psychological studies have been in existence for less than 20 years, however. The founding of the International Journal of Psychology took place in 1966. The first Annual Review article on culture and psychology was published only about 10 years ago by Triandis, Malpass, and Davidson, although the Annual Review had previously devoted some attention to psychology in other countries (e.g., the 1964 edition had an article on psychology in the Soviet Union). In the past decade courses devoted to crosscultural approaches to psychology have increased, although they are still offered in a relatively small percentage of departments. Attempting to stimulate cross-cultural awareness among undergraduates who are taking nonspecialized courses (introductory psychology, developmental psychology, social psychology) is even less common. Fostering this awareness through such courses requires an infusion approach—looking for places in the established course of study where a cross-cultural example is appropriate or where readings that illustrate psychological processes in other cultures can be used. M. H. Segall, writing in 1980 in the Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology to commemorate its 10th anniversary, noted a readiness on the part of those who teach undergraduate psychology to foster global awareness by using international resources. Such teaching could, he felt, reduce students' ethnocentrism about the field they were studying (and perhaps in their own lives as well) and help them deal more intelligently with cultural relativism.